Type-writer.



J. A. RUFFIN & G. G. GOING.

' TYPE WRITER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, 1998.

1,063,289, Patented June 3, 1913.

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mm: mmlc J. A. RUPPIN a: 0;. G. some.

TYPE WRITER.

' APPLICATION TILED JULY 20, 1908 1,063,289, Patented June 3, 1913. 4 BHEETB-BHBBT 2.

m w fi J; A. RUPPIN & G. G. GOING. TYPE WRITER.

. APPLICATION FILED JULY BO, 190B. 063,890 Patented June 3, 1913.

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ins m:- ummwasmmn n a J. A. RUFPIN & G. G. GOING.

Patented June 3, 1913.

' TYPE-WRITERL T 0 all whom it may concern:

lie it known that we, JOHN-A. RUFFIN and (tnoncn G. GoING, citizens of the United States, residing at New York, Y., have invented certain: new and useful Improvements'in Type-lVriters, of which the following is a specifieatioir' p Our invention relates to the general Class of typew "iters designed to print upon a sheet held in flat form upon a flat platen, and one object of our invention is to provide a machine for visible writing and one capable of the interchange of type bars for printing in different languages orditterent styles of type.

(lur object also is to provide a machine in which the change from upper to lower case type or the reverse may be readily eftectec.

The inventlon consists in the features and combination and arrangement of parts here inafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings :Fig ure 1 is a plan view of so much of a typewriting machine withour improvements embodied .therein as will enable one skilled in the art to fully comprehend our invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation oftlieniachine embodying our improvements; Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view from front to rear of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views relating to the platen; Fig. 7 is a sectional View of inkribbon mechanism; Fig. 8 is a plan view of a part of the machine to show the ink ,ribbon mechanism; Fig. 9 is a detail View of a part of cscapement mechanism.

In these drawings, lindicates ..ne main base plate having ways at 2- for guiding a platen 3. This platen is in. the form of a Hat plate and is adapted to more from front to rear for line spacing. The printing mechanism is supported upon the base plate, for

ch purpos r Lil standaius 4 near the rear thereof which support a track or rail 5 extending transversely of the machine in an elevated position. A second track rail 6, parallelto the rail 5, is arranged at the front of the i.a-,

chine in a positionslightly above the platen, this rail being supported in short standards ore 7 extending up from the base plate. The printing mechanism, niclmhng tlnkeys and key levers, is supported upon a carrier in it I Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed July 20, 1908. Serial No. 444,444.

points.

said base plate is provided snonen e; some, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

Patented June 3, 1913.

plate'S which, in turn, issupported upon the rails 5 and 6 by means of antifriction rollers bearing plates or hangers 13 attached to the This carrier plate 8 at the front. thereof. plate 8, as above stated, carries the-type bar mechanism, the key levers and other parts to be hereinafter described. The type'bars, one of which is shown at 14, are pivoted at 15 by a wire or rod extending'through the upturned portion 16 of the type bar carrying plate 17, this upturned portion being slotted, as shown in Fig. 1, to receive the type bars.- w

The type bar plate is provided with rearwardly extending arms 18 pivoted by a screw 19 passing through a slot 20 in each of the arms and into the uprights or stand ards 11.' Each type bar is provided with a notch at 21 receiving the pivot wire 15 and each is also provided at itslower end with a laterally projecting pin 22 in position overlying a projection or finger 23 on the key lever corresponding thereto. This key lever is indicated at 24, pivotally supported on any suitable form of fulcrum 25 on the carrier plate 8, the said. lever, at its front end, having any suitable form of key as at 26. Each type bar 'is under tension of a spring 2'4", there being one spring for eaehbar, an these bars ext-end upwardly from their pivo Each of the springs is conneett 1 with the type bar near its lower end at a point slightly above its pivot and the opposite end of the spring is connected to a supporting wire or rod 28 which is attached to a segmental part of the carrier frame. A segmental member 29 acts as a stop to hold the type bar in its elevated position, as shown in Figs, 2 and 3. The ettect of the springis to hold the type'bar normally ele- "ated. l/Vhen a key is depressechfthe corresponding type bar will be swung on its-prvot 25, the finger 28 of the key lever working under the pin 29 of the type bar and the effect will be tothrow the headed end of the type bar downwardly to cause the type carried thereby to make an impression upon the paper held flat upon the platen. Each type have only bar carries two type, one for upper and one for lower case, and these are arranged with their faces at an angle in respect to each other, so that, with the parts arranged as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, the operation of the key levers will cause the type bars to make impressions with the lower case type, the upper case type being at such an angle that they will not strike upon the paper on the platen. For printing with the upper case type, it is simply necessary to tilt the entire type bar carrying plate 17 for which purpose the said plate is pivotally supported, as at 1920, in the manner above described.

The position assumed by the type bar plate andthe type bars for printing with upper case characters is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and in order -to adjust the type bar carrying plate with the type bars into this position, we provide 'a slidable frame composed of sides 30 which are made up of metal bars set up on edge and guided in their forward and backward movement in standards or lugs 31 secured -to the carrier plate 8. Therejs one of these bars located at each side of the carrier plate 8, and they are conn'eted by a cross bar 32. At their rear ends they are provided each with an inclined slot 33, Fig. 2, which receives a stud or pin 34 extending from the type bar plate at a point-in front of the pivot thereof. The controlling or adjusting frame made up-of the bars 30 may be moved toward the front of the machine in any suitable manner,

and as one way of accomplishing this movement, we show a slot 35 at the front end of-one of the bars 30, this slot being inclined and receiving a stud or 'pin 36 of a key standard 37, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,

40 the upper end of said standard carrying a key 38. Upon the depression of this key, which has its standard suitably guided to vertical movement, the adjustng or controlling frame 30 will be drawn forwardly and the wall of the slot 33 in each of the bars 30 actin, .as a cam against the st-ud or screw 84 of the type bar carrying .plate will tilt the said plate from the position shown in full lines for lower case printing to that shown in dotted lines for upper case printing. The movement of the controlling frame, in respect to the type bar carrying plate, is limited by asto screw 39 passing through an ear 40 on the ar 30,

a set nut 41 being provided to hold the stop screw in any position to which it may be adjusted, it being understood that one of these stop screws is used-on each of the controlling or adjusting bars 30.

The effect of the forward :movement of the controlling bars 30 is notonlyto tilt the type bar carrying plate upwardly, but also by means of the stop screw 39 to move it bodily in a forwz/rd direction so that the type carriedby the pe-bar andcorresponding to sthe adjustment then :made will strike accurately at the printing oint. In order to allow this forward bodi y movement of connection at 19-20 is provided as above descrlbed, and for the purpose of limiting the forward movement we provide on eachthe type bar carrying plate, the pin and slot of the pivot arms 18 an adjustable stop screw 42 passing through an ear 43 on the arm 18 and adapted to abut against the side of the screw or stud 19 and thus prevent further forward movement of the arm '18 and the type bar carrying plate to which said arm is connected. In order to operatethe typedoars for their printing strokes when in the elevated position indicated in dotted lines for upper case printing, each key lever is provided with an upper bearing edge M44 and the act of adjusting the type bar carrying plate to the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 3 .will cause the pins 22 of the type bars to overlie the upper edge 44- of their respective key levers, so that, by operating these levers as above described, the corresponding type bars will be swung downwardly to make the impression. Each type bar is accurately guided to the printing point by means of a guide 45 consisting of an arm 46 attached to or formed with the type bar carrying plate, extending rearwardly therefrom and having, at its rear end, upwardly projecting divergent fingers to receive between them the type bars.

It will be observed that, while both the key levers and the type bars with the type bar carrying plate, is supported upon the carrier plate '8, the key levers are, in a measure arranged independently of the type bars and their carrying plate so that the latter may be adjusted into either of its .5

positions without, in any way, affecting the position of the key levers. These remain in :the same position for both adjustments of the type bar carrying plate, and their operation is identical in both instances, the effect case printing while the type bar carrying plate is in'the position shown inldotted lines, and itemay be adjusted from this position to its lowermostposition for printing with upper case, should this be desired. It will be furthernotice'l that the point which .125 the :type'bairs strike is -always within view,

whether the type bars are adjusted to .one

position or the'other.

Should it be desired tochange the machine as to the character of'irts'type, the-entire typerbarl Carrying plate,

bars, may be readily removed,

and other carrying plates,

and this may be done without afiectin in any way,- the adJustment or position 0 the .-key levers and other parts of the machine.

a the springs 47.

For letter spacing, we provide a rack bar 48 at the front of the machine extending transversely thereof and engaged by a gear wheel 49 on a shaft 50 journaled, at its .lower end, in the plate 8 and at its upper end upon a screw 51 held by a standard or supplemental frame 52 supported on the carrier plate 8. This shaft carries loosely thereon an escapement wheel 53 having a spring pawl 54: attached thereto engaging a ratchet wheel 55 fixed on the shaft. The

escapement wheel is under the control of a pawl 56 and a detent 57,the latter being piv-. otally mounted between the screws 58 supported in the supplemental frame 52. The

. pawl is pivotally connected at 59 to the detent, and is under tension of a spring 60 connected, at one end, with the pawl and at the other end with the detent.

.The carrier plate 8 is under tension of a spring in a drum 61 journaled in a bracket 62 connected to said carrier plate 8, the drumhaving wound'threon one end of a tape or band 63, the opposite end of which is connected at (it to tli base plate, the tendencyv of this spring drum and band being to move the carrier plate 8 from left to right for letter spacing. It is normally re strained against this movement by the detent, but upon rocking thisdetent on its pivot bearings 58, it will be removed from engagement with the escapement wheel and said wheel will be allowed to move one step under the tension of the spring in the drum (31, until arrested by the pawl 56 whlch, by the same movement which releases the detent from the ratchet wheel, throws the pawl into line therewith to be engaged thereby: Themovement of the pawl is limited by a stop 65 so that, at each operation or piv-.

otal movement of the detent, the carriage will be allowed to move one step toward the right for letter spacing. r Any suitable form of universal frame nihy be employed, and as representative of anysuitable construction for this purpose we show'a bar at 66 arranged to overlie the key levers to be operated thereby each time with its type with typev bars having difl'er @nt ch'aracters or characters of a different language,may be readily placed in position one of Jsaid key levers is moved. This unia versal bar is suitably pivoted at 67 to the standards 31 by rearwardly extending arms 68 of said universal bar. i

In orderto release the carriage from its escapement, the rack bar 48 is arranged to bedepressed for which purpose it is' con-' neoted, at its ends, with supportin members. or plates 69 suitably pivoted or hinged, as at 70, to the front standards 7. The rack bar is normally held up in position teen-.

gage the gear wheel 49 by means of a lsprin or springs 71, Fig. 2, suitably connecte with the standard or ear 7 andbearing upon the under side of the rack bar. With'this construction, in order to free the carrier plate from the rack bar, it is simply necessary to press said bar downwardly against the tension of the spring or springs 71 to disengage the said bar fromthe gear wheel 49, whereupon the plate 8, carrying the type bars and key levers, together with the escapement mechanism,may be moved freely in either direction, right or left. The stop segment or bar 29, to arrest the movement of the type bars and hold them in substantially upright positions, and also the'spring supporting rod 28, are conveniently carried upon upwardly extending arms 29 of the type bar carrying plate. i

For line spacing we have provided means whereby the platen may be moved automatically in the act of" returning the carriage of the printing mechanism toward the left from any position it may be occupy; ing and also for operating the platen by hand independently of the carriage return lever. For this purpose the platen is pro vided with a rack 72 of any suitable form, that shown as an example consisting of a plate or bar 72 of flat metal secured in the left hand edge of the platen and having a series of openings 73 therein to be engaged by a line space pawl 74 carried pivotally by arod 75 extending from front to rear of the base of the machine, its front end being pivotally connected to a line feed disengaging rod i'ti which extends across the base and has downwardly turned ends pivoted at (T to the sides thereof, a spring 78 being provided to hold this rod together with the pawl 74: and its rod 7 5 in retracted position.

The pawl 74 works over a line feed regulator-consisting of a plate or shield 79 fined adjustably to the base by screws 80 pass1ng through slots 81 in the plate and nto the base, a. finger piece and set screw 82 being provided to adjust the shield or plate and to hold it in any position to which it may be desired to adjust it. By adpisting this shield more or less of the movement of the pawl will be effective in moving the platen rearwardly for line spacing.

Theplaten, when moved for line spacing,

is held by a detent 83. This engages the H 41) AS'soonas 76'is released its spring restores it to norrwar y 60 right hand shifting movement be ng openings in the bar 7 2. It is operated to release the platen, when the line space feed i thereof. is to take place, by cont-act there- "withof the end or a shoulder 84 of the line i 5; sp afie rod. The detent may lee-either a piv- 0ne,' as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, or it )1 y be a vertically movable detent. In the if rmer case it is pivoted to a str '1 85 on the [base and is pressed downwardly normally or' ,..plate of. the platen,

llrod, ,and its rear end, which is slightly @tilteqlupwardly, is in position to be pressed LN: pon by the under side of the line spacing:

' ba.when. this moves rearwardly for line s pacing,,so that the first effect of the rearward'movement of the line spacing bar 75 gis xto press downwardly the tail end of the I d1etent so. as to raise its front engaging end .;out of opening in the platen rack bar to 2 fallow this,together with the platen, to move the action of the line space The line space bar 75 is held -:;douvnt0 its work by a guiding projection 88 .frfreely. under -pawl 174L- on the stud 85.

rln' order to allow the spring pressed de- 1 "tent to engage the rack bar of the platen as v so'on as the line spacing action has been accomplished by the pawl 7a, the rod 75 H cut away at 89 or is of other suitable form and arrangement "r' will tl'rerefore spring down immediately as f comesfover its tail piece and the platen will '3 t then be retained against displacement.

the line feed disengaging rod 1 tin position, thus moving the line space rod forwardly and in this movement it does not I -fdisturb the detent for which purpose it 15 Y .fQfaIlowedfsIight lateral movement toward the ejft, there being'suifieient free space under lip 88 to permit.

he' guiding projection or 'tl'ii s." This leftward movement of the bar takesplace as a result of its movement. and the contact of its shoulderv jhformed by' the cut away part at 89 with the eii'trenie end of the tail piece of the detent which, as shown in 1, is slightly inclined The-line feed bar will thus slip I p ast the detent without disturbing it from its holding or pressed down condition and when the forward position of the bar 1s reached it will be pressed toward the right into normal position by its spring 91, 1this 1mited by the side of the rod striking against the stop in the detent. Instead of a pivoted detent a vertically sliding .detent- 83 Fig.

6, may be employed, this having the advantage that the platen will be held against.

to release the .detent byfreeingfiit's. tail end from pressure as soon -"*'as".t;h.e rearward movement of the bar 75- fhas been lcompleted. The released detent moyement either forward or backward, which 1s also true of the pivoted detent.

The platen is adjustable in relation toits rack for which purpose the said rack is let into a groove in the side edge of the platen where 1t 18 retained by. pins 92 passing through slots 93 in therack bar, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. An adjusting screw 9% is arranged in the platen having finger pieces 95 at front and rear, by which it may be turned, said screw engaging a lug -96 on the rack bar so that the platen may be adjusted in relation to the rack bar either forward or. backward.

The line space bar may be operated by hand for which purpose a push button is provided at 97/ connected therewith or it may be operated, in a measure, automatically from the line feed lever. This line feed lever 98 is so arranged that it will 5 scrve'as a handle to return the carriage of the printing mechanism to the left for beginning a new line, and when grasped it will be given a movement to operate the line space mechanism, a part of said lever 0 contacting for this purpose with the rod 76 and having aonnectio-n also with the carriage or letter spacing rack bar 48 to depress the same and thus release the carriage of the printing mechanism. This action can be accomplished from any position of the carriage.

The platen is arranged to betaken out of its guides in the base and it may be reversed to present its under side uppermost. One side or face of our platen is covered with comparatively soft rubber or other composition for ordinary work, and the other face is covered with hard rubber or other material for manifold-ing work. 'We thus provide, in. a single platen, interchangeability as regards the character of the printing surface and thus dispense with extra platens.

At 99 we provide a release device for the platen consisting of a finger lever pivoted to the side of the base and adapted, when swung on its pivot, to press the line feed disengaging rod rearwardly so as to release the detent from the platen rack, but yet not engage the pawl therewith. This lever will hold the disengaging rod in the position to which it is moved and thus the platen will beperfectly free to be moved either forward or :back .by hand, or withdrawn and removed. I 120 vs indicate, in dotted lines at 7 8 in Fig. 3, a roller on a slide 79 supported in the base which, when adjusted. to an extended position, will furnish a support for the platen when this is in its outward position. For convenience of illustration we have shown .only .one key lever and type bar,

the arrangement of the others being a matter obvious' te those skilled in the art.

- We provide inking mechanism Figs. 7 and 13 arranged beneath the type bar guide above platen This box or storage chamber for the base and beneath the rea'rwardly extendingarms of the. carrier plate 8 at which point any suitable 1 guiding devices, such as 8, in which a ribbon is employed, the ar-,

rangement being such that no reversing of tinuous strip of fabric the main portion of wh ch smoked or folded within'a box or receptacle 101 extending transversely of the baseof the machine and, beneath the the ribbon has'at'one end (Fig. 7 a pair of rollers 102, 103,; between which the ribbon passes into the box, and at the other end there is a singleroller' 10 1 over which the ribbon passes from the box to be thence guided by a roller or other guide at 105 on I the wires 'orirolls 106, may be provided.

shaft of the said wheel 102, saidratchet -fvvheel being formed with or connected to The ribbon then passes through a guide 107 described. This guide 107 may consist of a spring member having an opening therein directly above the printing point over which the inking ribbon is guided. At the left the ribbon is also guided over a roller or other guiding device 105. The shaft of the roll 102 has thereon an arm 108 carrying a pawl 109 which engages with a ratchet .wheel 110 arranged-to -turn"'loosely on the -gamma 111 with which meshes a rack bar 1.12. co;nnected to the carrier plate 8 of the printing' mechanism. It will be seen from this that when the carrier plate 8 is "moved step by stepto'wardtheright, it will I traverse theinking ribbon, and make the impressions by the type bars striking down thereupon. In this movement to the right the. rack bar 112' does not operate the ribbon rolls, as, on this movement, the ratchet wheel turns freely past the pawlcarried by the fixedarm 1'08,"but on the'leftward'movement of the carrier 8 to begin a new line, the rack bar-will, by operating the gear 111,

' .cause the ra'tchet thereof to engage the pawl 109 and revolve the same about the axis of the roll 102, and thus through the said arm "108 revolve the said roll so that it will feed the ribbon into the box or receptacle 101 and in this feeding movementthe ribbon Wlll automatically fold itself substantially as shown in Fig. 7, and the layers, being packed closely together, a large number of yards of ribbon may be used in the machine, and as it is fed into the box at one end and supplied to the machine by feeding 1t out from the box at the other end, the movement is continuously in one direction and no reversing of the ribbon is necessary. It. will be'further observed that the amount of rib bon fed 'at' each movement of the carrier plate towardthe left will correspond exactly with the number of letter impressions that right, and in this way uniformity of ink supply Wlll be assured. This is not true,,

however, in those forms of inking mechanism in whichthe inking ribbon is wound upon a'drum or roller,-the-passage of the ribbon to the printing point being faster at some times than at others. The rack bar 112 may be arranged in any suitable way to fold n relation to the other parts of the machine, and for this purpose it may be pivoted as indicated at 113, but this is repre sentative of any suitable way of providing an adjustable rack bar which may be folded oradjusted for compactness when the machine is not in use.

We claim 1 In combination in a typewriter, a plurality 0f upwardly standing type bars, each carrymg a plurality of type at difi'erent angles, said bars being arranged to strike downwardly and rearwardly, a support for the type bars pivotally supported at its rear portion, means for tipping up the front of sald support and means for sliding the support forwardly to bring another case type into play from that when the support is in its lowest position, and key levers for oper position, subating the type bars in either stantially as described.

2. In combination in a typewriter, a platen, a plurality of type bars, a segmental plate in which said type bars are pivotally mounted, said plate having its ends directed rearwardly, said bars being arranged to strike downwardly and rearwardlyupon a visible, printing point, and key levers for operating the type bars, said type bar frame being pivoted at the rearwardly directed ends of itsarms and means for adjusting said frame, substantially as described.

3. In combination in a typewriter, a plurality of type bars, carrying a plurality of type in different angularpositions, a support for said type bars with means for adjusting the same to bring either set of type into play, and key levers having each a plurality of engaging points to operate the type bars, said type bars being positioned in appropriate relation to either one or the other of said'bearing points by the adjustment of said support.

4. In combination in a typewriter, a platen,- a series of key levers, a plurality of type bars carrying each a plurality of type at angles to each other, and a support for said type bars adjustable u wardly and longitudinally in relatiomtosaid key levers to throw said type bars into connection with different portions of key levers, substantially as described.

5. In combination in a typewriter frame,

a platen, a series of key levers, type bars I each having a plurality of. type in different I said type bara'said su ort lat -r, a egme ta b r and mean f r adju ing s frame In new pos t n in il p 'te ea h oth r, a pi otal-1 y and shdabl-y moun upp t 9 and slot .conn onitv th fr me, an for adius i g a d s pport up a d y and ng tudia ly'ia re p t to t e y a Subs ant a ly .a d Q i d- 6.1a eomb netion in a yp iter, a

platen, a series of key levers, type bars ,eaoh

aving a plurality of type in different angular positions in respeotkto each other, a pivotally and slidably mounted support for a d ype bars, a mea s e adj i g ai sunwt p ard y and l git d a y in r spect to the key'levers, said means ,compris ing th i i g b r ha i g a Pin nd inclined slot connection with the said sup-' port, substantially as describe d.

f7. Ina typewriter the combination of a pla e a se ie o ke ers, .a p r li y of typ bars each v g th r o a 'ph i ity of type disposed anguiarly in respect to each ram ar ying a d type respect to the key levers, said frame being removable bodily with th typ her d int cha ge ble i h f ame ry ng yp r with ype d fi re s y e or Iana lege, he a k y h i g y Contact connection with the type bars and said .connection being broken simultaneously as to all the ty e bars in the act of removing the frame, substantially as described.

8. In combination in a typewriter, a platen, a plurality of type bars having each a plurality of type disposed angularly in respect to each other, an adjustable support for said type bars, key levers having two contact surfaces to engage the type bars in each position of the adjustable support, and a guide for the type bars carried by the adjustable support and movable therewith.

9. In combination in a typewriter, type bars, key levers for operating the type bars by'contact therewith, a frame in which the type bars are givoted, said frame belng pivotally and sli ably mounted, and a slngle h ving a pm connection for tilti g "the said frame and sliding the same, substantially as described.

' 10. In combination-in a-typewriter, a series .of type bars, a frame pivotally mounted and carrying saidtype bars, said frame beng-sl da 1e 11; a direct line toward the front and rear of the maehine,' and key levers for operating. the type bars, substantially as descnbed. u I

- 11, In combination in a typewriter, a seriesnf type bars arranged to strike down upon the platen, a frame carrying the said type bars and pivotally mounted, said frame also havin sliding movement to adjust the .type bars or upper and lower case printing,

and keylevers for operating the type bars, said frame being removable as one body, to-

,gether with the type bars, and withouztdistu-rbing the ke. lever connections, substana tially' as descri ed.

12. In combination in a typewriter, a series of type bars, a frame pivotally mounted at its rear end, a series of key levers,-and

means for first lifting the front end of the type :bar frame and then sliding the same bodily forward to change its ad ustment in relation to the key levers, substantially as described.

In combination in a typewriter a series of key levers, a series of type bars, carrying each a plurality of type and a frame adjustable as one body to bring either type JOHN A. RUFFIN. GEORGE G. GOING.

fitnesses E. R. STEPHENSON,

F, EOKLIN. 

